Decatur Capital Management Inc. Has $3.34 Million Holdings in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

Decatur Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,643 shares of the retailer’s stock after selling 52 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 1.5% of Decatur Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Decatur Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $3,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Costco Wholesale in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,182,316,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Costco Wholesale by 74,796.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,521,893 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,394,465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,861 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Costco Wholesale by 100,422.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 796,137 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $729,476,000 after purchasing an additional 795,345 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,201,610 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $38,668,069,000 after purchasing an additional 455,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,068,772 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $979,284,000 after buying an additional 382,367 shares during the last quarter. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on COST. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Costco Wholesale from $940.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $935.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,035.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Costco Wholesale has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,024.03.

Costco Wholesale Price Performance

Shares of COST opened at $994.50 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $975.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $952.32. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 12-month low of $702.00 and a 12-month high of $1,078.24. The stock has a market cap of $441.24 billion, a PE ratio of 58.40, a PEG ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The retailer reported $4.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.09 by ($0.07). Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.93% and a return on equity of 32.31%. The firm had revenue of $63.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $63.02 billion. Analysts anticipate that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from Costco Wholesale’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 27.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $922.56, for a total value of $830,304.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,445,926.72. The trade was a 11.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gary Millerchip sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $940.01, for a total transaction of $1,034,011.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 11,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,495,211.65. This represents a 8.97 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $5,215,915 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Costco Wholesale Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.